Why I Still Love RSS [in 2021]

I'll admit it, RSS isn't cool anymore.

And I know why. RSS certainly has its flaws. There are competing standards (Atom and RSS), it's difficult to use and properly parse, it's inefficient (as any "pull-based" data stream is), it doesn't provide publishers in-depth analytics, and it isn't as flexible as modern data transfer protocols like GraphQL or REST.

That said, it's 2021 and I still love RSS.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for "Real Simple Syndication," and it's an open format for publishing updates across the internet.

Back in the early days of the internet (before search engines and social media), publishers needed a way to tell readers when new content was available. Email was a thing, but email newsletters were not really common yet. RSS was built as an open format, meaning that anyone could use it to push new content out to feed consumers, and anyone could build a feed reader to parse and display it.

RSS gained popularity with large and small publishers alike, and eventually, it was being used by almost every kind of website. Job boards published RSS feeds of new job listings, Craigslist had feeds for each city and category, and almost every major news site offered it. You can even get your local weather in an RSS feed!

Over the last 20 years, open standards have been slowly falling out of favor. As fewer companies gobble up more of the internet, they have sunsetted support for open standards in favor of "modern" (read, "proprietary") standards and APIs.

Look, I'm a software developer, so I understand the value and security advantages of OAuth, but not every stream of data should require me to prove my identity just to access it.

Why I Love RSS

I use RSS every day. While it's fun to hop into a Twitter thread as well, consuming news and blogs via RSS is far superior to any other option. Here's why I still love RSS:

It's a Decentralized, Open Standard

"At its core, it is a beautiful manifestation of some of the most visionary principles of the internet, namely transparency and openness. The protocol really is simple and human-readable. It feels like how the internet was originally designed with static, full-text articles in HTML. Perhaps most importantly, it is decentralized, with no power structure trying to stuff other content in front of your face." - Danny Crichton, Tech Crunch

When you browse Facebook or Twitter, they control the content you see. They are simply aggregators of content, but unlike RSS, they don't deliver all the content you're subscribed to. RSS on the other hand is a simple, open standard. You can read it in your choice of reader or build your own. There's no authentication rules and it doesn't cost anything extra (beyond web hosting) for publishers to have one.

It's Easy to Use and Run

"RSS has largely been forgotten but lives on as a ghost on almost every major website. The RSS feed exists, it’s updated, and everything is accessible without anyone touching it. It’s so stable no one has to think to check the RSS feed; it just works." - RSS in 2020

With RSS, you don't get "everything plus the kitchen sink" and you can't request extra data. Sounds like a knock against it, but in reality, this can be liberating. As a developer, you know what fields to expect (roughly) and each RSS feed is very similar to the next.

Simultaneously, site maintainers don't have to worry too much about it. It's a relatively simple feed of data that usually hooks straight into newly published content. I'd guess that most sites with an RSS feed almost never update it.

It Democratizes Information

Because RSS is built around an open standard and usually publicly available, it allows consumers at all levels to access information. You don't have to ask for permission or pay a fee; just start grabbing data from the feed. Updates come to you at the same time they reach someone else.

It's "Hackable"

RSS almost encourages you to build things.

These free flows of raw data might be overwhelming at scale, but because RSS is an open standard, almost every programming language has a library or two that will do the hard parts for you. Once parsed, you can use this stream of text data to build cool stuff.

With the proliferation of low and no-code tools available now, building things with RSS feeds is almost irresistible once you discover them.

Why RSS is Ready for a Resurgence

I'm not alone in wanting to see RSS make a comeback. With privacy concerns growing, more users are interested in anonymity online.

"People are becoming even more skeptical and wary about their data being collected...86% of the respondents said they feel a growing concern about data privacy, while 78% expressed fears about the amount of data being collected." - Lance Whitney, TechRepublic

Meanwhile, podcasting - a medium that relies on RSS - is now mainstream and while Spotify is trying to own the space, listeners aren't necessarily buying it.

"Spotify cares about the home UI, and that's really it. Actually finding the specific thing you want is so 2010. Let the algorithms handle it—that's the wave of the future." - David Ruddock, AndroidPolice

Finally, more people are becoming creators or publishers in some format. While the kids might flock to closed platforms like Tiktok or Instagram, email newsletters are also on the rise in part because they're an open platform as well.

I think RSS is due for a similar resurgence. While it may not be a hot, investment-worthy startup anytime soon, the fact that consumers are showing interest in open platforms and its already widespread use makes RSS an exciting place to be.